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Taliban eager, India can help Afghanistan reduce dependence on Pak via Iran's Chabahar Port
With Afghanistan's relations with Pakistan worsening, the Taliban has begun to cosy up to India, despite the strained relationship between New Delhi and Islamabad.
In an effort to lessen reliance on Pakistani ports, the Taliban government has chosen to concentrate on Iran's Chabahar Port, which is run by India and is considering joining the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), according to a report by The Economic Times.
The Chabahar Port project encountered major obstacles after the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021.
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However, as tensions between Kabul and Islamabad grew—particularly when Pakistan started expelling Afghan refugees—the Taliban began to move more towards collaborating with Iran and India, according to sources familiar with the situation.
The port serves as a crucial transportation hub between Afghanistan, India, and Iran. Taliban representatives have reportedly already visited Tehran to talk about Kabul's involvement in the project.
According to Russia's leading think tank, the Valdai Club, which has close links to the Kremlin, the Taliban is attempting to project a message of independence from Pakistan by boosting its involvement in the Chabahar Port project, the report stated.
As part of its plan to increase its regional influence, Iran is also seeking to include Afghanistan in the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's recent meeting with acting Afghan Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi was the first formal engagement between an Indian and a Taliban minister since 1999, indicating a shift in regional geopolitics.
In May of last year, India and Iran struck a 10-year deal for the development and management of the Iran's Chabahar Port. Chabahar Port is Iran's first deepwater port and is about 72 km from China-run Gwadar Port in Pakistan.
Managing commerce between India, Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, and the Eurasian area depends heavily on the two nations' flagship project.
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In addition, the project created a sea-trade link that would allow India to reach the Afghan market and vice versa, avoiding Pakistan's ports of Gwadar and Karachi, as Pakistan had refused India a direct land route to Afghanistan.
However, considering India's resistance to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), it also has significant importance for its trade aspirations throughout Central Asia.
Iran and the Taliban seem dedicated to developing the port as a vital transit hub connecting Afghanistan to international markets, according to the Afghanistan Times, even if US sanctions reinstated under President Trump might make it more difficult for larger involvement in the Chabahar project. Kabul also contributed $35 million.
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